Professional painters and do-it-yourselfers splatter paint when painting with rollers and paint brushes. Thus, when painting a wall, a painter must protect the floor and/or its covering, such as carpet, tile, and the like, from paint which would inevitably splatter thereon if the floor surface was left unprotected. Cleaning splattered paint off hardwood and tile is difficult, but removing it from carpets and rugs is almost impossible, especially if the carpet or rug is hoped to be left undamaged by the cleaning fluid. Clearly, and as is well known, protecting such surfaces from spattering paint is highly preferred to cleaning paint splatters from them.
Various devices and surface covers have been used. Old newspapers, broken down cardboard boxes, tarps, and the like are frequently available. Such materials have relatively straight edges so that they fit well against walls. However, newspapers slip when walked on and splattered paint on the paper will adhere to the sole of a user's shoe when stepped on. When the shoe is raised, the newspaper tears. Collapsed cardboard and corrugated paperboard boxes have slots where the boards fold to form their bottoms and tops. Paint can splatter through these slots. Too, frequently, sheets of paper shift relative to one another when walked upon, especially from splatters adhering to shoe soles. Tarps are expensive, difficult to clean and do not stay against the wall.
Another problem is that of retaining a paint tray or paint can in position. In the course of painting a wall, a painter is frequently looking up and away from the paint container which is usually left on the floor. The paint container is sometimes kicked over or at least kicked hard enough to cause spillage over its side due to an abrupt lateral movement of the container. Too, the paint vessel at times sticks to the paper it splatters under it or from paint running down its sides. When the painter attempts to move the vessel, if it is on newspaper, the paper many times will tear and paint will get on the floor surface the painter is attempting to protect.
These problems have been recognized and attempts have been made to solve them. U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,323 to Rioux describes a collapsible paint tray carrier and paint splatter protector mounted on casters and having slidable drawer-like side extending panels. A paint tray can be clamped to the central panel of the device. This device is clearly more expensive than newspapers, cardboard or corrugated paperboard. The device, being on casters, positions its protective panels above the surface of the floor and not immediately on it. Only a paint tray can be held on the device and it must be fastened using a clamp and bolts. No indicia are displayed on the device to indicate to a user the boundaries for effective splatter protection offered by the device. Too, the side panels, because they are boxed under the central panel, cannot abut the wall, and leave a space for paint splatter to occur immediately adjacent the wall being painted. On walls having high moldings, the molding cannot be protected with this device. Any accessory device, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,788,274 to McNaughton et al, 3,565,038 to Van Barriger, and 3,429,296 to Legere, which describe tools for covering a molding, can not readily be used since the central panel is substantially higher than the end panels. Such molding protectors can be easily used with the instant invention.